


gestures of reconciliation

by cassie_p



Series: gestures [3]
Category: The Social Network (2010)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-18
Updated: 2016-02-18
Packaged: 2018-05-16 03:50:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5812723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cassie_p/pseuds/cassie_p
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eduardo picks the wine glass back up and holds it in his hands, twirling it so the wine nearly sloshes over the brim.  “Would you believe me if I said I didn’t need you?”</p><p>Mark tilts his head to the side with a hint of his old smirk.  “Would you believe me if I said the same to you?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	gestures of reconciliation

**Author's Note:**

> Here's part three! I wasn't sure it would ever come to exist but here it is. It's inspired by the songs "Skeptics and True Believers" by The Academy Is... and "Always" by blink-182.
> 
> I have to admit, the only reason I got the motivation to write this was because I'm scared of planes and my only way to deal with them is to lose myself in gay fanfiction and emo music.
> 
> Hopefully y'all enjoy!

“You don’t need to be afraid, Wardo,” Mark says, cracking the silence between them.

Eduardo takes a sip of his red wine, his hand just barely trembling on the stem of the glass.  Mark waits another beat, and then continues, “I’m not here to lead you on or force my way back into your life or anything else that’s making you so tense and silent over there.”

Eduardo lifts his eyes from the tablecloth to find Mark staring directly at him.  He swallows, and drops his chin, watching himself put his wine glass on the table.  “Sorry,” he says quietly, followed by a strangled chuckle.  “And now we’re back to where we’ve always been -- you’re being selfish, and I’m apologizing.”

“A bit of familiarity is always nice,” Mark says, detached.

Eduardo picks the wine glass back up and holds it in his hands, twirling it so the wine nearly sloshes over the brim.  “Would you believe me if I said I didn’t need you?”

Mark tilts his head to the side with a hint of his old smirk.  “Would you believe me if I said the same to you?”

“Yes,” Eduardo replies without hesitation.

“You shouldn’t.”  Mark smiles.  “I took a leave of absence a few months ago -- “

“When you say ‘took’, do you mean ‘was forced into’?” Eduardo interjects, amused.

Mark chuckles.  “Chris broke into my office and threatened to publish a resignation letter to my Facebook page and every major newspaper if I didn’t take some time off.  He sent me to one of those week-long spiritual retreat things in the mountains with no electricity or amenities.”

“Did you find out what you’re made of?  Discover inner peace and purpose?” Eduardo teases.

The two men laugh together.

"I did, actually,” Mark says, still smiling.  “I figured out what was important to me and what I could live without.”

Eduardo’s contentment drops off his face, leaving him wide-eyed and open-mouthed.  “What did you conclude, then?” he asks softly.

“I will be a workaholic until the day I die.  What I do is important to me and I don’t want to live my life without it there.”

Eduardo closes his mouth into a sad smile and looks at the tablecloth.

“But,” Mark continues, prompting Eduardo to look up at him, “I’m sick of coming home to an empty house and having no one to call when I’m lonely or sick or bored.  I miss having a best friend.”

Eduardo nods absently.  Mark’s eyes flit across Eduardo’s face.

“You’re disappointed.”

Eduardo puts one of his hands in front of his face and sighs.  “I know it’s foolish but I was hoping… I was hoping for you to say you were sorry, or you wanted me specifically back or something like that.”

“I am sorry,” Mark says.

Eduardo moves his hand from his face and looks up at Mark.  “I’m being selfish and you’re sorry.” He laughs sharply.  “Talk about a role reversal.”

“I regret that I hurt you but not what I did, and you’re the one trying to apologize.  So who’s really selfish and who’s really sorry?” Mark says, shoving all the words out of his mouth as quickly as he can.

Eduardo snorts and his entire posture relaxes.

“Can I ask you something?” Mark says, and Eduardo’s shoulders tense back up.

“Yes, but I don’t have to answer.”

“Why did you call me, Wardo?”

Eduardo’s cheeks flush light pink.  “Someone somewhere said some things that may have sparked some sympathy.”

“I figured,” Mark says.  He snorts.  “I’m sure you know by now to not believe a word anyone says about me.”

“I’ve learned to take it all with a grain of salt, yes,” Eduardo says.  

“What did this person tell you that made you so willing to call?”

Eduardo bites his lip and fiddles with the tablecloth, leaving creases in the previously pressed surface.  “Told me Sean Parker had a role to play in what happened between us.  Said he played both of us to get himself more shares.  Now, obviously, we had some problems without his intervention that he exacerbated, but that the way things ended was at least partially on Sean.”

Mark nods.  “Sounds like the same information I got just before I was forced on vacation.  I assume it was also Chris who sat you down and talked to you?”

“Him and Dustin,” Eduardo says.  “I kept leaving or hanging up, so they had to corner me together.”

Mark laughs.  Eduardo lets a small smile creep up on his face.

“So now you know what really happened.  You don’t need to be so afraid, Wardo,” Mark says, leaning forward in his chair.

Eduardo laughs sharply.  “Are you kidding?  This is still hard for me.  I’ve been here before a few times, Mark.  I know what happens when people promise to change.”

“Wardo, I’m not promising to change.  I’m demonstrating that I already have.”

“How do you figure that?”

“I’m here, aren’t I?  I’m here, and I’m trying, and that’s more than I’ve managed in the past.”  Mark’s expression changes from genuine to teasing.  “Not to mention, your standards for me have always been dangerously low.”

Eduardo snorts.  “I guess you’re right about that.”  He sighs, the mirth slipping away as easily as it had come.  “There’s no way to put this delicately, but that approach has not exactly worked out to my benefit in our past, Mark.”

“I already told you I’ve changed,” Mark says, matter-of-fact.  “You can see it for yourself, as well.  What more do I need to do?  Admit I was wrong, that I did the wrong thing?”

Mark waits.  Eduardo’s jaw clenches.  Mark stares.

“Alright,” Mark acquises.  “I was wrong.  I did the wrong thing, listening to Sean and letting him manipulate me.  I was arrogant and foolish and I should have talked to you instead of shoving you out of the company we built together.”

Eduardo’s breath catches in his chest, unable to move the entire time Mark is speaking.  He thinks he should probably have something to say in response, to at least acknowledge that Mark is saying everything he has waited to hear all these years.  He doesn’t have enough time to come up with anything before Mark is speaking again.

“Now that I’ve admitted I was wrong, you admit that you’re sick of fighting me and that’s really why you called me.”

Mark tilts his chin up, a ghost of the smug, defiant man that Eduardo remembers.

“Of course I’m sick of fights, Mark, I’ve always hated conflict.  That doesn’t mean it’s enough.”  Eduardo sighs.  “Mark, I want to fix this.  I just don’t know if we can.”

“Let’s try anyways,” Mark snaps, finally sounding flustered.  “We didn’t build one of the most innovative and influential companies to ever exist by never taking any risks!”

Eduardo bites his lip and inspects the tablecloth.  Mark’s fingers tap along the wood in muted thuds.  Eduardo takes his mostly-full glass of wine and drains it in one sip before returning it to the table with moderate force.

“Okay,” Eduardo says.

Mark’s tapping stops.  “Okay?”

“Okay, Mark,” Eduardo says, and then he laughs in disbelief.  He looks up from the table and makes eye contact with the man across the table.  He smiles, all of the wrinkles disappearing off his face, and leaving him looking relaxed and young for the first time since Harvard.  “Let’s try this again, for real this time.”

Mark stands up so quickly his chair wobbles on its back legs and strides around the table to Eduardo, framing his hands around Eduardo’s face and tilting it up.  “We’re really doing this?”

Eduardo nods, as much as the position allows his face to move.  “Yeah, Mark.”

His mouth splits into a toothy smile that Eduardo mirrors.  He refuses to stop smiling but he still tries to press their lips together, resulting in a clumsy kiss that they both laugh into, already breathless.

“We can do this, Wardo,” Mark whispers into the negligible space between their mouths.

“Yeah, Mark,” Eduardo says, still dazed but slowly gaining resolve.  “Yeah, Mark, we can.”


End file.
